Advance Scout: Cardinals, June 3-5. "Make no mistake -- the Cardinals remain an extraordinarily gifted and dangerous team. But they haven't yet amounted to the sum of their parts, even factoring for their various injuries." (Batter's Box)

Derek Milhous Zumsteg: "That the Mariners have consistently seen fit to extravagently reward Dan Wilson for his popularity while at the same time playing hardball with fan favorite Edgar Martinez at every turn speaks a great deal about the organization's biases and priorities when it comes to making decisions on what kind of a team they're going to field, and how pound-foolish they really are." (U.S.S. Mariner)

Report: Steinbrenner no longer fan of interleague play. "The Boss is unhappy about New York's road trip this week, when interleague games begin. His problem: While the Yankees are in Cincinnati and Chicago, the rival Boston Red Sox play Pittsburgh and Milwaukee -- two of the three worst teams in the National League." (ESPN.com)

Tom Tippett: "If George really wants fair competition, he should lobby Selig to put a third team in the New York metropolitan area, push for a hard salary cap, or voluntarily cut his payroll by about $60 million." (Thoughts from Diamond Mind, June 3 entry)

Travis Nelson: "Baseball writing is such a great gig because as soon as you're convinced that you'll never have anything to write about again, Joe Morgan rattles off a column that begs to be shredded. Oh goody." (Boy of Summer, May 29 entry)

Aaron Gleeman: "At what point is it okay to call Joe Morgan an idiot? I mean, it is obvious from listening to Joe that he is a fairly smart guy. He speaks well, he has quite a lot of intelligent thoughts and he generally comes off as a person of above-average intelligence. But c'mon Joe! Not only does Joe have his facts wrong about Billy Beane and Moneyball, he is now making a big deal about the situation, based on his incorrect facts. It is to the point that Joe bashes the A's/Billy Beane/Moneyball at every possible opportunity he gets, whether it is on ESPN, ESPN.com, ESPN Radio, wherever. It is almost an obsession. And I think it is all based on Joe being incredibly offended by Billy Beane writing a book that Billy Beane didn't even write!" (Aaron's Baseball Blog)

Eric: "OK, Twins' fans, simmah down now. Yes, the Twins just lost four in a row to the Seattle Mariners, but let's just chill out a little bit. Don't let your Minnesota-bred inner fatalist take over. Things are going to be just fine." (The Baseball Boys)

Prospectus Triple Play: Marlins, Yankees, Pirates. "This is probably not earth shattering news to you, but there is no plan. Every decision the Marlins make seems unconnected to anything else. The off-season signing of catcher Ivan Rodriguez--what exactly was the point?" (Baseball Prospectus)

Prospectus Triple Play: Red Sox, Reds, Padres. "[Rod] Beck immediately steps to the front of the line for whatever save opportunities the Padres can scrounge up. Whatever happens, he's a tremendously fun pitcher to watch, and he'll give fans of this moribund Padres team something else to root for in 2003." (Baseball Prospectus)

Dan Werr on Wiffle Ball. "By naming our team the First-Half Energizers, we ensured that we would always bat in the top of the first. That provided a tremendous Wiffle Ball advantage because (A) games of Wiffle Ball basically ended when it got dark and (B) that frequently occurred before the top of the first was over." (Baseball Primer)